Tiger soccer wins wild one in Worthington

September 21, 2012

Down 2-0 at halftime to Southwest Conference rival Worthington Thursday, the Marshall soccer team roared back to grab a 3-2 win in a match that saw three players and a coach ejected.

"It was about as wild of a soccer game as I've seen in all my life," said Marshall head coach Pat Johnson, who was not the coach that was ejected.

The Trojans (4-5 overall) took a two-goal lead in the first half thanks to a 20-yard strike by Jose Alfredo Castillo in the 15th minute and a Randy Lopez penalty kick 10 minutes later.

The second half was when things got really interesting.

The Trojans had a player sent off on a red card and the Worthington coach was also throw out for arguing the call.

Marshall (3-8) took advantage of the man advantage, opening the scoring in 60th minute when Trevor Johnson was taken down in the penalty box and put home the penalty kick.

It didn't take the Tigers long after that to tie up the game. Five minutes after Johnson scored, he set up Isac Evenson for the equalizer on a crossing pass that Evenson buried in the net.

"Our defense really stepped up in the second half and got the offense going," Pat Johnson said. "We adjusted some things at halftime to get the ball to open spots on the field. In the first half we would get the ball and just kick it down the field to them. But in the second half we got Trevor in a position where he could beat his guy down the side and bring it to the middle and that helped create our scoring chances."

Marshall had its momentum seemingly stopped when a Tiger got sent off after getting hit with a second yellow card shortly after the team's second goal. But the Tigers showed they didn't need a man advantage to score, and with 11 minutes left on the clock they scored what turned out to be the game-winner when Trevor Johnson took a direct kick and found Ethan Hart on the far post for the go-ahead goal.

The Tigers had a second player sent off four minutes later to give the Trojans a man advantage. With everyone in the stands and on the sidelines on their feet, Marshall goalkeeper Paul Citrowske and the Tigers managed to survive a final charge by Worthington over the final seven minutes and preserve the 3-2 win.

"I've never seen anything like it," Pat Johnson said of the atmosphere of the game. "Our kids really dug in and played a heck of a game. We're just thrilled to get the win."

Thursday's game marked the end of a six-match road trip for the Tigers. They continue action Monday with a home match against New Ulm at Mattke Field.